Pittsburgh Penguins City of Bridges Ugly Christmas Hockey Jersey

Why would a hockey team dress exactly like a football team and a baseball team? In Pittsburgh the answer is loyalty. The Penguins started out in 1967 in powder blue, but in January 1980, with the Pirates fresh from a World Series title and the Steelers on their way to another Super Bowl, the club switched to black and gold so every team in town would look like part of the same family.

Those colors cover this holiday jersey on a black field. The skating penguin and its gold triangle hold the center, crossed sticks frame a puck at the laced collar, tiny penguins march down the sleeves and around the hem, and low across the front a gold skyline sits on a run of yellow bridges.

Black and gold: the skating penguin up front, a penguin perched on a puck behind.

The penguin on the crest skates across downtown

The gold triangle behind the bird is not decoration. It stands for the Golden Triangle, the point of downtown Pittsburgh where the Allegheny and the Monongahela meet to form the Ohio River, so every crest carries a small map of the city.

The bird itself came out of a naming contest in 1967. The team's first home, the Civic Arena, had a stainless-steel dome that locals called the Igloo, and a penguin was the obvious creature to live inside one. The building is gone, but the joke survives.

Yellow bridges under the skyline, with a row of skates below.

Gold bridges carry the skyline

Pittsburgh calls itself the City of Bridges, and with roughly 446 of them it has earned the name. Several of the best known, including the three sister spans across the Allegheny, are painted a bright gold, which is why the bridges on this jersey glow yellow against the black.

On the back, PENGUINS arches over the shoulders in cream and gold. Below it a big snowflake frames a single penguin standing on a puck, as if it had climbed onto the ornament for a better view.

PENGUINS over a snowflake that frames one penguin on a puck.

Five Stanley Cups tie two eras together

Mario Lemieux delivered the first two championships in 1991 and 1992, and Sidney Crosby added three more in 2009, 2016 and 2017. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have shared a dressing room since 2006, and Malkin is back for a 21st season in 2026–27, a partnership almost unheard of in the salary-cap era.

One name from the 2009 team turned up again this June. Jordan Staal, a young center on that Penguins champion, captained the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2026 Cup and won the Conn Smythe at 37, the oldest player ever to take it. A Pittsburgh title, it turns out, travels well.

Up close: the penguin, its gold triangle and the white laces.

Black and gold looks right in a Pittsburgh December

December in Pittsburgh brings early dark, cold rivers and weekends crowded with Steelers and Penguins games in the same two colors. This jersey fits every one of those nights, from a home game at PPG Paints Arena to a family party.

Households that cheer for both can add our Steelers Here We Go advent calendar. It counts down to Christmas in the same colors, and matching the neighbors was the whole point of 1980.

Lacing up on the bench, stick and water bottle close at hand.

Some teams change their look every few years. Pittsburgh chose its colors once, and this jersey keeps that promise with snowflakes, skates and bridges.

Written by Dana Whitlock, Apparel & Print Specialist at DoesignUs.